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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ” plant hardiness zone map ” was updated Wednesday for the first time in a decade, and it shows the impact that climate change will have on gardens and yards across the country. One key figure on the map is the lowest likely winter temperature in a given region, which is important for determining which plants may survive the season. It's calculated by averaging the lowest winter temperatures of the past 30 years. Winter temperatures and nighttime temperatures are rising faster than daytime and summer temperatures, Primack said, which is why the lowest winter temperature is changing faster than the U.S. temperature overall. “There are a lot of downsides to the warmer winter temperatures, too,” said Theresa Crimmins, who studies climate change and growing seasons at the University of Arizona and was not involved in creating the map.

Persons: Chris Daly, Richard Primack, ” Primack, Primack, ”, Theresa Crimmins Organizations: WASHINGTON, The U.S . Department, Oregon, Agricultural Research Service, Boston University, University of Arizona, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Boston, The, U.S

☆ Organic? Free range? What do food labels actually mean?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-07 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —Navigating the grocery aisle is overwhelming, especially when trying to make sense of food labels. Shoppers who want to know where their food comes from, or how long it will last, have to work even harder. Government agencies have strict guidelines for food safety and nutrition labels on packaged foods. But other information like sell-by dates or animal welfare labels are less regulated — and some are effectively meaningless. Here’s how to know what you’re looking at when you’re reading food labels.

Persons: Scott Olson, “, ”, “ FSIS, Dena Jones, Jones Organizations: New, New York CNN, Nutrition, Shoppers, Government, USDA, ” Companies, Safety, USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, Animal Welfare Institute, Global Animal Partnership Locations: New York, Chicago

☆ Spider mite males ‘undress’ their partners to mate ASAP
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Spider mites are tiny arachnids, distant cousins of spiders, smaller than the tip of a standard ballpoint pen. Living together in dense colonies can make for fierce competition in finding a mate, especially because female spider mites only use the sperm from the first male with which they mate. Males will guard females that are nearly mature, so that as soon as the females are set to mate, the males will be ready. While farmers and gardeners often revile spider mites as plant-eating pests, many biologists use them as model organisms. “I hope they are fascinated about what type of sophisticated behaviors have evolved, even in such tiny animals as spider mites,” he said.

Persons: Dr, Peter Schausberger, ”, Schausberger, —, doesn’t, ” Schausberger, Tomasz Klejdysz, Yukie Sato, ” Sato, There’s, that’s, Rebecca Schmidt, Kate Golembiewski Organizations: CNN, University of Vienna, University of Tsukuba, US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service Locations: Japan, Chicago

☆ Exclusive: Staff at top U.S. farm research center file complaint alleging unsafe work conditions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Leah Douglas | Thomson Reuters | Washington-Based Award-Winning Journalist Covering Agriculture | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

The Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) near Washington D.C. is the largest research facility owned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and has long been the flagship of U.S. farm research. “Our employees’ health and well-being is our top priority," a spokesperson at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), which oversees BARC, told Reuters. STAFF CUTSFounded in 1910, the BARC facility spans nearly 7,000 acres in Prince George’s County, Maryland, near the nation’s capital. The unreliable conditions are affecting research outcomes, making it at times impossible to complete experiments or replicate their findings, said two research employees. On February 22, several BARC employees met with Thomas Shanower, the director of USDA’s Northeast Area, a division that oversees 15 research centers, including BARC.

☆ A Parasite May Explain Why Some People Are Driven to Start a Company
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

When wolves in Yellowstone National Park get infected with a cat parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, they become more likely to leave their packs and start new ones. The Yellowstone wolf data hints that it's just the side effect of a protozoan inhabiting our brains in a failed attempt to make more protozoa. So why would any of this make an infected wolf want to start its own pack? That was the suggestion of an influential 2006 paper titled "Can the Common Brain Parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, Influence Human Culture?" Just because Toxo might drive an alpha male to start a company, that doesn't mean it'll be a successful company.

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